Valve operated mechanism for internal combustion engines



E. TURNER March 8, 1960 Filed Dec. 8, 1958 llliu zli iii ll:-

United States Patent 6 VALVE OPERATED MECHANISM FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Edward Turner, Birmingham, England, assignor to E. Developments Limited, Birmingham, England, a British company Application December 8, 1958, Serial No. 778,705

2 Claims. (Cl. l23-55) This invention relates to improvements in valve operating mechanism for multi-cylinder internal combustion engines of the V type in which the cylinders are arranged in two oppositely inclined banks.

In engines of this type it is known to employ cylinders having hemispherical heads with two overhead valves per cylinder actuated through rockers and push-rods by a camshaft located between the two banks of cylinders. The camshaft is usually located fairly low down and access to the tappets and camshaft can only be obtained by dismantling the engine.

According to my invention, in an engine of the type set forth above, the camshaft is located in a relatively high position between the banks of cylinders and the tappets are mounted in a housing which fits over the camshaft and closes the space between the banks of cylinders to which it is detachably secured.

With this arrangement access to the tappets and camshaft is made extremely simple, as by removing the bolts or other means holding the housing in place, the housing together with the tappets can be lifted off for inspection or replacement of the tappets and the camshaft is then completely exposed. Our invention is of particual advantage in its application to engines for sports or racing cars where it may be essential at times for the camshaft to be changed, as itallows this operation to be carried out rapidly and easily without dismantling any other parts of the engine or removing it from the chassis.

The accompanying drawing is a cross-section of the upper part of a V type engine embodying my invention and illustrated by way of example.

In this engine the cylinders 10, 11 of the two banks have their axes at right angles to each other and are cast in a single block incorporating the upper part of the crankcase and carrying the journal bearings for the crankshaft 12. The cylinders have hemispherical combustion heads and oppositely inclined valves 13, 14, which are actuated through rockers 15, 16 and pushrods 17, 18 by tappets 19. The tappets for the valves of the two banks of cylinders are actuated by a single camshaft 20 extending longitudinally between the two banks and located at about the level of the upper ends of the cylinders. The camshaft is driven by a chain or gearing from the crankshaft and is mounted in journal hearings in transverse webs integral with and fiXtending between the two banks of cylinders.

The tappets are mounted in a housing 21 which fits over the camshaft and closes the space between the banks of cylinders to which it is secured. For this purpose the housing has on each side a longitudinally extending horizontal flange 22 and these flanges seat on and are secured by bolts 23 to complementary flanges 24 on the inner sides of the banks of cylinders. The tappets are mounted in oppositely inclined guides 25 in the housing on opposite sides of the longitudinal recess 26 which receives the camshaft.

The housing together with the tappets can be detached very easily by removal of the bolts 23, and the camshaft and its bearings are then immediately accessible without dismantling any other part of the engine.

I claim:

1. A multi-cylinder internal combustion engine comprising, two oppositely inclined banks of cylinders, a

cylinder head assembly secured directly to each bank of cylinders, overhead valves in each assembly for each cylinder, rockers and pushrods and tappets for actuating said valves, a camshaft for actuating said tappets extending longitudinally between said banks of cylinders adjacent the level of the upp r ends of said cylinders and rotatably mounted in journal hearings in parts integral with the banks of cylinders, a housing overlying said camshaft and said tappets and extending between the banks of cylinders to which the housing is to basecured independently of the cylinder head assemblies, and said tappets being mounted on an underside of said housing.

2. A multi-cylinder internal combustion engine of the V type having the cylinders arranged in two oppositely inclined banks comprising, a cylinder head for each of said banks having a hemispherical cavity over each cylinder, two overhead valves in operative association with each cylinder, rockers and push-rods and tappets and a camshaft for actuating said valves, said camshaft being located adjacent the level of the upper ends of said cylinders and being rotatably mounted in transverse webs integral with and extending between the two banks of cylinders, a housing overlying the camshaft and said tappets and extending between the banks of cylinders closing the space between said banks of cylinders, means carried by the underside of said housing guiding said tappets, and said housing being removable without disturbing the cylinder heads or the camshaft mounting.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,173,105 Fekete Feb. 22, 1916 1,406,271 Michelsen Feb. 14, 1922 1,910,813 Powell May 23, 1933 2,669,227- Drinkard Feb. 16, 1954 2,765,781 Turlay Oct. 9, 1956 2,781,750 Chaync Feb. 19, 1957 2,833,254 Carpentier May 6, 1958 2,856,909 Turlay Oct. 21, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 270,341 Switzerland Nov. 16, 1950. 

